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TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

Recent triip on SG on MLE COK. Have completed more than a dozen trips on this route along with a couple on UL.

A lot of people are ga ga over the new SG in this forum . For me it was an OK trip - not the greatest nor the worst either.

Check in in MLE is handled by the airport operator, not SG. Three hours before departure, flight was shown as open for check in. However when we reached the check in desk were asked to wait for a few minutes. Reason was evident soon enough as the SG representative who supervises check in turned up a little late. But on a Q400 which was not full (80%) this wasn't a big issue.

Check in went ahead without fuss. Being a Friday afternoon flight in July during the Ramadan month, the airport was not too crowded as it also co-incides with off season in MLE.

SGs Buy on Board is not too great on a Q 400 so decided to have a proper meal on one of the airport outlets post security. The dine in area (there a couple of them) has a wonderful view of the tarmac. Had a leisurely meal. There was a Bangkok Airways A 319/A320 named "Hirsohima" which left before us along with a SQ A330 (Or was it a
B777 ?) - I am not a spotter nor will it cause me any lack of sleep for mis- identifying. The other usual fixture a Hainan AiIlines B767 was cancelled due to off season.

Our incoming Q 400 from COK aircraft landed before time. Boarding was on time. We were marched across by a Maldives Airports (Ground Handler) staff to the airport but had to cross a fairly active surface vehicle movement area so had to watch out for passing apron vehicles. It was a short march none the less!!! Bangkok Airways which was parked even nearer decided to bus its pax across but SG apparently decided a short walk will not do its pax any harm.

On board there was a SG on duty staff in the cabin (I believe an AME). He/She always gets one of the regular pax seats. not a crew seat. I believe SG does not have an AME at MLE , and why should they.. they just have this one flight and to my knowledge this is the only Q400 visiting MLE on a scheduled basis.

The CCinC (Cabin Crew in Charge) announced his name and introduced his colleague. The gentleman had a Malayali/Tamil sounding name and the stewardess seemed to be from the North East. However the CCinC announced that between the two of them knew English, Hindi and apparently nothing else.

Both Captain and FO appeared to be Chennai based orr atleast of Tamil origin if their names were anything to go by. However they left all the talking to the CCinC. Flight was un eventful although the CCinC appeared to be over enthusiastic in his announcements - shades of Navjot Sidhu trying to show everyone he knows English language . Or may be CCinCs boss was on board and he was getting checked.....But clearly he was overdoing the stuff sounding like a voice trainer in a BPO.

Not many takers for the F and B offerings. Most people were regulars (but not the coated suited or my Daddy Mom is rich types). Thy were mostly , on board for the price of the flight not for the chance of checking out the taste of the burger or sandwich on board

Interestingly crew never came around with the immigration/customs forms but around 45 minutes into the flight Mr CCinC announced possible bad weather, the seat belt sign came on and the crew retired to the rear galley to dutifully follow instructions to remain strapped in. There was hardly any turbulence to speak of, the seat belt sign remained on till almost the very end.

Finally when Mr CCinC did the regulatory "spraying" of the cabin, I asked about the small matter of the customs form and was told they had none. Thank you very much. How nice... Soon enough our man made the "We reached early...so wonderful" announcement but the pax had to do their form filling at the terminal before they could clear customs.

SG parks at the domestic terminal as their next flight is a COK MAA one. We were bussed to "International arrivals" where there was another "Pied Piper" march as the Ground Handler's staff led her band of merry men/women up a flight of stairs f only to encounter....ooops... a locked door ! We could not get in. However this mobile phone is a wonderful gadget, she had one and alerted someone inside and soon enough a CISF gentleman unlocked the door and let us in

There are three flights landing around the same time at COK, The SG flight has company from two MCT originating flights one from AIX and the other from 9W. AIX made itr before us, but we just squeaked in ahead of 9W.

Immigration was fairly quick but customs took time - only to be expected due to recent developments at the COK airport- and people who were not aware of the forms (because they were not provided one on board) were told to fill one Thank you SG- you got in ahead of time yet again for you to boast - we pax got delayed even further.

The aircraft was "Haldi". I dont care for registrations but it s easy enough to find through Google.

Overall a mediocre flight. Not the worst I took but definitely not the best either from SG..

Most people (including me) take SG for their pricing and the convenience to fly directly to COK. But even if closest competitor UL drops prices by a mere 50 US$ round trip these guys will be in serious trouble , mainly because of the much higher baggage allowance of competition.

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Aha TKMCE Sir, it is nice to see a TR from you on the forum.
While this doesn't sound like a bad trip, this doesn't sound too complementary with regard to SG, either.
Since MLE-COK is an extremely price-sensitive market, what loads do you see on this route on SG, and what do you estimate the yields on SG to be?
SG seems to be barely holding on with pricing just below UL.
What would you recommend to SG, in terms of holding their own in the market? One representative, and having local airport operators is standard practice all around the world, and saves money for the airline. Ditto for the AME on board, which you also mention. The `Pied Piper march' is clearly a cost-cutting bottom-line, indicating severe austerity measures. SG may hold on to its Q4s a bit longer, so are they trying to make the best of the Q4s for as long as they are with the airline? What do you think UL is doing right (fine, they aren't exactly a well-managed airline), which keeps them going with a slightly higher cost, apart from the baggage allowance, and other ancillary services at airports at both ends (busing, aero-bridges, food on board)?
Do you think this market will see an economic bloodbath, or a price war?
Not having the customs form speaks of either callousness, or an ultra-quick turnaround (the latter doesn't sound that likely, though). It will be nice if you tell us your analysis of this route, in some more detail. MLE is an exotic destination for most of us, and most us us would be eager to know more about this market. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Cheers, Sumantra.

jbalonso777 · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:34 am Post subject:

Hello Rajeev sir!

Great write up from you, looks like SG is a pretty standard airline on its international routes, especially those operated by the Q400s. I hope SG can sustain this for long because UL have a stronghold in MLE and CMB.

Thanks for this!

Regards
Jish
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stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

- Well written, point by point
- I was always (am still) amazed how Indian carriers barely make MLE work Confused

- Over enthusiastic CCiC Laughing

- any idea if most of the traffic is COK bound?
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TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

They get a lot of beyond traffic....

As for their pricing... well as I said on the return TR, hopefully they know what they are doing!!!!